EU plans to invest up to €200 million in grants across the South Caucasus, von der Leyen says

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced that the European Union plans to invest up to €200 million in grants across the South Caucasus to support the development of transport, energy and digital connectivity. She made the announcement during a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku.

Congratulating Aliyev on the conclusion of what she described as a historic peace agreement with Armenia, von der Leyen said he had demonstrated personal leadership in promoting peace and cooperation in the region, creating new opportunities for stability, trust and shared prosperity.

She stressed that the European Union firmly supports and will continue to support this process.

“Together, we can truly turn peace on paper into peace in practice. This brings me to my first point today. We want to foster peace through connectivity. We have a Global Gateway investment package under which we will invest up to €200 million in grants across the South Caucasus for transport, energy and digital connectivity. This has the potential to leverage up to €2 billion in public and private investment. Projects could include, for example, a railway connection through Nakhchivan and the development of the Port of Baku,” she said.

Aliyev said his talks with the European Commission president had focused primarily on regional security issues, particularly the process of normalising relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which he said was progressing successfully.

He recalled that Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a joint declaration in Washington last August in the presence of U.S. President Donald Trump, who signed the document as a witness. According to Aliyev, peace has therefore effectively been established, and its results are already evident.

The Azerbaijani president said one manifestation of peace was the removal of all restrictions on the transit of goods to Armenia through Azerbaijani territory.

“So now peace is a reality, but we have to work hard to strengthen it and make it lasting and eternal,” he said.

Aliyev also praised the European Commission’s support, saying any assistance that strengthens momentum in the region would help transform the South Caucasus into a region free of territorial claims and conflict, based on partnership, cooperation and peace.

Von der Leyen is scheduled to visit Armenia on July 2 for a meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.